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20th Week in Ordinary Time

Date:

Fri, 08/25/2017

Author:

Rev. Msgr. Donald Enzweiler

Today we come to the center. We are brought to the center, drawn to the center.
We contemplate the center, that which is most important…
that which is pivotal with regards to our activity, our interests, our life’s condition.
Ideally, the center of life serves as the origin of our thoughts, desires, dispositions, attitudes, wants, needs, impulses, pursuits.

The center of the Christian life is love.
And not just any love.
As Christians we choose to center our lives on the love revealed to us by and in God,
the love revealed to us in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
As Christians we choose to be centered and remain centered on the activity and work of God.
We find inspiration from this center.
We take direction, orient our lives, from this center.
We measure the quality, the fulfilment of life from this center.
Our purpose, satisfaction, happiness, peace…
our health, well-being, accomplishment, contentment…
these are evaluated, assessed according to this center.
We embrace a faith, a conviction, that our lives are ultimately judged from this center.

According to a principle of consistency, love is love.
My love for God is the same love I have for neighbor and for self.
The love I have for neighbor and for self should be the same love I have for God…
in quality, intensity, character and essence.

But then we are instructed by Jesus to love God above all things,
to love God more than anything else in existence.
This shows love to be inconsistent…that love exists on a continuum.
Love can be strong. It can be weak.
It can be total and/or it can be partial.
It can be a blazing fire or it can be a candle flame.
It can be real. It can be counterfeit.
It can be deep. It can be shallow.

For 2 thousand years the Church has been seeking a common understanding of love
in light of the evolution of human thought, invention and discovery.

I am of the belief, and I’ve said this before,
that if we want to expand our understanding of our experience of love
we must increase our vocabulary.
Here are some words and phrases
I believe are associated with love as it has been shown to us by God:
- graciousness; blessing; free gift; good will; spontaneous freedom; goodness; kindly conduct; assistance; fellowship; protector; defender; to turn towards; repayment of evil with good; striving to overcome distance; to strive after…; tenderness; delight; welfare; exclusiveness (God and only God); an undivided heart; unremitting loyalty.

Today’ prayer: “O Lord, you created us in love. The fulfillment of our lives is to be found in love. Inspire us this day, through Jesus Your Son, to remove from our hearts, minds and souls all that is contrary to love and in turn to add what contributes to the growth of love. Renew us in love. Reground us in love. Re-center us in love. Amen!